


And to think that it happened on Galentine's Day

by Unified Multiversal Theory (nightgigjo)



Category: Daredevil (TV), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, I know it's not anywhere near February, all the ladies of marvel, but I just realized I hadn't posted this here, most of these are brief cameo appearances, so here you are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-30 01:50:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21420223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightgigjo/pseuds/Unified%20Multiversal%20Theory
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	And to think that it happened on Galentine's Day

Well, _this_ Valentine’s Day sucked.

Yesterday had been amazing. Girls’ night out with every single high-powered woman Darcy knew? Jane had even coaxed Dr. Cho out of her lab with promises of abysmally bad karaoke. Galentine’s Day went like this: each of them picked their favorite place, and their favorite thing on the menu, and everyone else had to try it, before moving on to the next place. Last year’s bash had been phenomenal, with Pepper’s posh little alt-jazz club and their divinely understated pomegranate martinis providing a relaxing finale to the evening.

This year, Pepper got first pick, dragging them – Darcy, Jane, Sharon, and Natasha, along with Dr. Cho and not one but four SHIELD agents (Daisy, Elena, Jemma and May) – to a much more lively place with the The Best Tacos and margaritas to match. By the time they had gotten through sushi, the underground disco, Belgian waffles, a high-rise bar, the tiniest cupcakes ever and a literal speakeasy, Darcy’s ‘hey, let’s get a beer in the crappiest bar we can find’ idea was looking pretty awful.

Still, rules were rules, so they all had staggered (some more competently than others) into an absolute dive in some backstreet nowhere, with nothing but a neon sign in the window to differentiate it from every other ramshackle door on the block.

Before long, Sharon and Dr. Cho were bonding over the different colors their unpolished nails were turning in the lighted signs from behind the bar. Natasha was surreptitiously supporting Pepper, who was maintaining both dignity and professional poise while listing slightly to one side. May had run into an old friend, a nurse named Claire, and they were stolidly sharing a bottle of whisky. Daisy, Jemma and Elena were in some sort of murmured conversation, which would have sounded clandestine if they hadn’t also been giggling.

“Joe’s,” Darcy muttered under her breath. “How am I this boring?”

Jane pulled on Darcy’s sleeve and slurred, “Nope…‘S Josie’s.” The tiny scientist could barely focus on Darcy’s face, but her eye for detail hadn’t failed her. “ ‘S a woman’s bar…on Galentine’s Day. ‘S perfect.”

“I guess,” she moaned into her beer, which by this time tasted like water. She glared balefully at the bottom of her glass and ordered another.

“Sure you want that?” came a too-sober voice behind her.

Darcy whirled to face the unwelcome commenter. A small bunch of people were just behind her, looking generally tired like they’d all just put in about 18 hours of work: a tall slender blonde, a scruffy dark-haired guy in a suit (who was wearing sunglasses for some reason), and a slightly rumpled guy with shoulder-length light brown hair, who nevertheless managed to look more put-together than Sunglasses. He was the one leaning over Darcy’s shoulder at the bar, casting a critical eye on her beer.

“Why wouldn’t I want it?” Darcy frowned at him.

Commenter was unfazed. “It’s crap,” he said, shrugging. “No offense, Josie,” he said to the bartender. “You know that’s not the good stuff. Look, they can pay for it, just look at them. They’re not bums like us,” he added with a grin.

The bartender looked unimpressed, and turned back towards Darcy instead. “You driving?” she demanded.

“Nope,” Darcy said, “We’ve got a ride to pick us up.”

Josie shrugged before refilling Darcy’s mug from a different tap. Setting the mug down with a grunt, she left Darcy to it. Commenter was still standing there, grinning like a fool, silently urging Darcy to take a drink.

Rolling her eyes, she did. “That,” she said with surprise, “actually tastes like beer.”

“See? I knew Josie was giving you the cheap swill. You definitely deserved better.”

Darcy snorted. “And you don’t?”

The guy’s grin never faded. “Nope,” he beamed. “I’m a degenerate.”

“What, unemployed?”

“Worse,” he said, leaning forward conspiratorially, “I’m a lawyer.”

The two of them had chatted a bit, and had a surprisingly good time. Commenter seemed like a genuinely decent person, and not at all overawed to find out Darcy worked with superheroes. It wasn’t a fake “that’s cool” or complete fanboying that she usually got, which was really nice, actually. He was more interested in her work as a science wrangler.

Realizing she was in danger of ditching her gals on Galentine’s, which she definitely wouldn’t, Darcy invited Commenter and his friends to join them. The guys declined, but the blonde, Karen, hung out for a bit, until Jane fell asleep at the bar, prompting an end to Galentine’s Day.

Now it was Tuesday, and Darcy was in line on a way-too-early coffee run (Science! waits for no one), and thoroughly kicking herself. She had met a halfway decent guy, but she hadn’t even gotten his name.

The killer hangover was Not Helping.

_Coffee_ would help.

“Hey,” Darcy heard, and someone tapped her shoulder.

“What?” she demanded, wheeling to see…Commenter.

He stuck out his hand, grinning. “Foggy Nelson,” he said by way of greeting.

“Darcy Lewis,” she heard herself say, and smiled.


End file.
